Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Pink #1 Review

When a Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers spinoff mini-series was announced, I was just surprised it wasn’t for the Green Ranger. He was a popular character after all. However, we got one for the Kimberly Hart, the Pink Ranger, instead. Let’s see what the first Pink Power Ranger gets to do in her own spinoff. Is it good?

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Pink #1 (BOOM! Studios)

The Lowdown

Our story takes place sometime after Kimberly has left the Power Rangers and went off to join the Pan Global Games. She’s currently living in Europe now after her training, but something odd has happened: her mom and step-dad have vanished and the entire village they live in is a ghost town. Something is up and Kimberly’s going to find out what, powers or no powers.

The Breakdown

From a fan perspective, I think this is a great premise and smart idea. It follows up on Kimberly and what she had been up to after she left the series. It helps continue to develop her as a civilian now, not bog her down by what’s currently happening in the series at the time, and it can help to fill in some gaps that formed when she departed and what happened afterwards with her. While a bit tense and mysterious, the mood and Kimberly’s upbeat attitude keeps this bright and fun. We’re shown how she’s still one hell of a fighter and starts her off on what could be a fun solo career as a hero, having to fight a bunch of monsters by herself. It’s a good showing for the character overall and while I’m not sure how this story will continue on for five more issues (I mean, most of the story is seemingly close to being finished), it’s just fun for Pink Ranger fans.

That being said, it’s not perfect when it comes to its writing. There are a few abrupt cuts and iffy transitions that came off a bit awkward. There are some moments that don’t really make sense and sometimes the time scale feels really off, like somehow Kimberly rides a motorcycle from the Netherlands to France in a single afternoon. There are also some continuity errors in the panels, like how Kimberly goes from holding a bow, then suddenly having a sword (don’t even know where that came from), and finally back to the bow again in the span of three panels. There are some inconsistencies in both the story and potentially the lore of the show itself, like with Kimberly’s new Power Rangers uniform and weapon (it looks good, and is both similar but also different than the original). Unfortunately, since small problems like these keep popping up in the issue, they detract and distract from the issue.

What the… where did all of those medals come from!?

Daniele Di Nicuolo provides artwork for the book and I thought she did a good job overall. The characters, for what little there are of them in the book, are drawn well in a cartoonish style. All Power Rangers characters look close enough to their live action counterparts and can be very expressive with their body language and facial expressions. The action is fluid and flows well, giving you a good sense of motion and movement as our Pink Ranger dodges and fights off monsters in the issue. Sarah Stern’s colors are nice as well, capturing a bright and energetic tone that fits the comic very well. The biggest problem with the artwork is the backgrounds–the majority of backgrounds are undetailed, blank, or flat color voids that stick out a lot and make the scenes feel rather empty.

Is It Good?

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Pink #1 is a solid showing for fans of the original Pink Ranger. It expands on what Kimberly was up to after she left the team and it’s a lot of fun in its own way, backed by good artwork. However, there are a lot of little problems and issues that keep piling up in the writing and storytelling, detracting from the overall experience. I can still recommend the comic, but don’t expect it to be as good as the main book.